President Muhammadu Buhari is set to confer a national honour award of the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic on a 48-year-old medical doctor, industrialist and celebrated entrepreneur, Dr Eruani Azibapu, becoming the youngest Nigerian to receive the CFR award.

Eruani, who is the chief executive officer of Azikel Refinery, is to get the award for his immense contributions to Nigeria’s economic growth, employment and national development, according to the letter conveying the national award to him.

The CFR award, according to the letter, will be formally conferred on him at a ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Born on December 25, 1973 to the royal family of King Allwell Eruani, Aguda IX, the Obenema of Emadike Kingdom in Bayelsa State, the philanthropist obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from the University of Port Harcourt in 1999.

In preparation for business conquest, he studied at the Lagos Business School where he obtained certification in the Owner Management Programme (OMP). He also studied at the London Business School and the University of Pennsylvania and obtained the Senior Executive Programme (SEP) and Advance Management Programme (AMP) certifications respectively.

Eruani pioneered the establishment of in-country petroleum refining by setting up the first private Hydroskimming Refinery in Nigeria.

With an output of 25,000 barrels per day, Azikel Refinery brings to reality President Buhari’s Modular Refinery Regime launched in 2015.

His business interests, which started with dredging and sandfilling, include power, aviation, oil and gas and technology.

On graduation, he worked as a medical officer in the civil service and some private clinics in Port Harcourt,  and later sought further education and specialisation, starting in surgery at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, then travelled to the United States (US) and took interest in family medicine and later became a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Azibapu also worked in Bayelsa State as a medical officer. But when he became a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, he secured employment in Nigerian Agip Oil Company as an expatriate, basically providing occupational health services. He rose to the level of a deputy chief industrial doctor.

Then, there was clamour for him to come back, as the government of Bayelsa State needed some experienced doctors to revive its health sector.

The then governor, and later President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, appointed him as adviser on HIV/AIDS and Community Health and he was appointed commissioner of Health by Chief Timipre Sylvia, who took over from Jonathan.

After serving as adviser for about two years and commissioner for about five years, he went into an area that was considered not befitting, the business of sand selling.

At the outset, not many people wanted to work with him. In fact, when he told his mother that he wanted to go into selling sand, she wept, that her son and only child, a medical doctor of international repute and commissioner was going to start selling sand.

But Azibapu had always known that one could actually make a good business from what many people didn’t like. And he found encouragement in his father, who said he believed in whatever he wanted to do.

He said, “I looked at the critical drivers of that business – I needed to have land and a dredging machine. I couldn’t afford to buy a dredging machine, because it costs millions of dollars. The cheapest dredging machine as at that time was nothing less than $10 million.

“I needed to get land by the riverside. I could go to a community to get land and even if I cannot pay at once, I can pay overtime, and that was what I did. I went and discussed with the Otuogori community and they agreed. That is where my operation is based, more so, it was a vacant land then, as it was always submerged under water.”

Solving the problem of dredging machine was more challenging, as he didn’t have the money to rent a dredging machine, let alone buy one. “So, I approached someone I know has a dredging machine, who remains very famous in my history, called Akpe. I asked if he could pump some sand for me, and he agreed to do so if I was willing to pay.

“From the bill he gave me, I needed an initial deposit of about N80million. I didn’t even have up to N10million. I tried to bargain as much as I could, but it wasn’t forthcoming, so I accepted it, despite not having the money.

“But I said since he wouldn’t need the whole N80 million at once, we should have a payment plan and I proposed N80 million to dredge about 100 feet of sand and offered to pay him N5 million deposit to mobilise a dredging machine to the site.

“I was able to muster about N10 million, so while he was there, I could pay him another N5 million. So, when he pumped the sand and we quantified that it was worth N10 million, I paid another N10 million,” he recalled.”

Asked how he hit it at an early age, Azibapu explained: “It is influence, largely environmental influence. The environment is not where you grow up; it is the people that you meet, your perception and the people that are around you. When you are purposeful and you have success written around you, you are likely to succeed.”

Today, Azikel operates in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers states. The business soon evolved into a multinational industry and there was the quest to diversify, this time into the aviation sector, starting with a small aircraft.

Other prominent Nigerians to receive the CFR national award are the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajaiamila; his predecessor, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara; Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha; Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan; former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami (retired); former CEO/Managing Director/Founder of Zenith Bank, Mr Jim Ovia; Chairman, Body of Benchers, Chief Oluwole Olanipekun SAN; economist, and philanthropist, Mr Tony Elumelu, along with a number of serving and retired military officers, Justices of the Supreme Court, business executives and traditional rulers.

-Additional report by the Guardian